The New Cycle
by Cizzymac
Summary: Co-authored with The Perilous Monster Eater. An angry and world-weary Minato decides to do things his own way.


The New Cycle: Prologue

He was no longer alive…

Be it for a breath or for an aeon, he was no longer sure, as the purgatory that housed his soul was beyond the reaches of time and space.

The only certainty in this cruel new world was agony, between the rending at his back and the endless, deafening roar from his front. But he could not afford the tremendous evil sealed within him a single lapse of focus. Stepping back to catch his breath could cost everything he fought so hard to obtain.

Flames unseen burst upon his crucified body from behind, incinerating his flesh. But with the limitless power of the Universe arcana, his body endured, if only just to spite the beast caged within his soul.

The shrieking of thousands of banshees assailed him, but he remained resolute. How many times had this same scene played itself out? Surely the number would rival the number of grains of sand in a desert.

But the boy would not be moved.

From within the cacophony, the boy heard a minute voice.

"Minato…"

Though he was no longer a person with need for a name, the young man recognized the familiar voice immediately. After all, the owner of that voice was, at one time, one and the same with him.

"Ryoji," the boy called out, suddenly reminiscent of a time long since passed.

With a heartbeat-like rhythm, a great hurricane of wind heralded the raising of Nyx's demonic blade, sharper than any of human manufacture, and taller than a skyscraper. With godlike strength and precision, Nyx felled the blade onto the boy's back, watching with removed indifference as the muscle, bone and sinew was flayed from the boy's body, only to be reborn in the next instant through the sheer force of the boy's will.

Up to this point, Nyx had always found the human body so _primitive. _Bones, mineralized osseous tissue. Marrow, endosteum… the list went on. There was nothing that separated this creature from the animals that crawled amongst the dirt. So what was _truly _the difference between them?

Minato flinched from what should have been a mortal blow, but he did not loose his concentration. Just the same as the other countless times Nyx had attempted to break his body in half.

"I do not understand why you continue this struggle. All of your friends…everyone you hold dear in your heart are gone, and long since forgotten. The world you desperately hope to save has fallen into depravity and despair. Everyone you've hoped to save has turned away from the precious gift you've sacrificed yourself to give them. They want to receive Nyx's blessing of release. They _demand_ Nyx's return."

Minato was steadfast as Nyx's words pierced through his heart with power equal to the sword that continued to rip through his naked body. Though the words were in Ryoji's voice, he knew it was Nyx's venomous tongue that spoke them. Assuring himself that this was simply a new trick Nyx had devised in order to break his spirit, he remained in perfect resolution as he shed silent tears for the friends he had left behind.

His world full of smiling faces, endless schoolroom lectures, joyous victories and heartbreaking losses…that world was no more. The sword persisted. The voice continued. Nyx was his world now. A world wholly accepted of his free will.

The last sliver of Minato's human soul cried out for release from its eternal imprisonment, screaming with every bit of its minute strength to return to the life he once knew. It was impossible. Thunder cracked against his back, charring it black. The explosion sheared through his torso giving him only a moment to will himself back to life yet again. There was no escape from this reality. His eyes would never gaze upon the beauty of earth ever again.

"There is a way."

In the very next moment, the darkness of the world around the boy shattered like a thin pane of glass. Everything fell silent and, similar to when he had first become the seal, countless, glittering stars surrounded him, and everything was peaceful.

"To send you back."

That voice…there was something different about it this time. Minato felt no malevolence from his words, but kindness, with a hint of desperation.

"To save yourself from this cruel fate."

Ryogi…how had he done this? Minato could not feel the presence of Nyx any more. What had he done?

"Our game will begin anew, and you shall have another chance. One chance, using all of the power and knowledge obtained up until now. You'll have one chance to save us all."

Minato, wary of yet another trap set by Nyx to poison his mind and cause him to falter, tried to cover his ears, but his arms remained slack at his sides. He had no control over his own body in this place, and he could do nothing except listen to Nyx's, no, Ryogi's words.

"Make no mistake, my friend. If you accept this chance and fail, Nyx's return will be realized. And that power, your seal, will not keep him at bay. For your soul is not what it once was, and you are not who you once were."

As though he had decided before the last of Ryogi's words reached his ears, Minato's body began to fall through the endless space, the stars in the sky accelerating past his vision until they were nothing but a blur.

"My dearest friend…I will pray for your success…"

His eyes snapped open, his vision bleary from sleep. A familiar tune played in his ears, and unconsciously, he flipped a switch on his small mp3 player sitting in his lap, turning off the music. He rubbed his eyes with his hands and looked at them; unblemished, clean, unscarred from years of endless torture. "It couldn't be," he thought.

Removing his headphones, he looked out the window to his right. It was extremely dark outside, but he could make out the outline of a very familiar scene. "The train," he said out loud.

"Iwatodai station…Iwatodai station…" the speaker above his head repeated again and again. "This is the final stop. Please disembark at the nearest exit."

Grabbing his bag containing his belongings, he exited the train, stood in the middle of the empty station, and looked around him. There was no mistaking it. He was definitely back in Iwatodai…but when? Switching his bag from one hand to the other, he fished his cell phone from his pocket, flipped the lid open with equal parts excitement and trepidation, and squinted in the top right hand corner of the LCD display.

23:58 2009/06/04

"Impossible," he exclaimed loudly. But no matter how many times he blinked his eyes, the date displayed on his phone remained the same. He returned his phone to his pocket and began to walk. He knew where to go.

And as all the clocks in Iwatodai struck twelve, the boy's lips began to curl upward.

The moon turned a sickly green, and the boy could see in the powerful light it lent a massive tower erecting from the nothingness in the distance.

The Dark Hour has begun.

And with it, the savior's second chance to save the world.

Thus begins the New Cycle.


End file.
